The case for curiosity research or exploratory research

Seemingly pointless scientific research can lead to extraordinary discoveries, says physicist Suzie Sheehy. In a talk and tech demo, she shows how many of our modern technologies are tied to centuries-old, curiosity-driven experiments -- and makes the case for investing in more to arrive at a deeper understanding of the world.

Note: I have long made the case that encouraging and funding only hypothesis-driven research or only applied research is limiting scientists to explore only those areas which are already known but previous research. If we apply this approach rigidly, this means we can never discover anything truly new except by accident or misadventure. Some of our greatest discoveries have come from purely exploratory research, exploring areas about which nothing is known, but that is not the approach we teach to graduate students, especially in the human or brain sciences. I think the topic of this TED Talk, "curiosity research", underscores that. ~ David Baxter